We were never first choice

Despite what universities say, changes to visa rules are not the only barrier to attracting more overseas students to Australia, writes Erica Cervini.

CHINA may be Australia's biggest market for international students, but Australia is not the first choice for Chinese students -- and never has been. America is.

Yet a flurry of recent newspaper articles would have us think otherwise. Vice-chancellors and migration agents have been reported as saying that droves of Chinese and other international students will be scared off from coming to Australia because of changes to student visa rules.

The changes, they say, might give potential students negative messages that they are not welcome at Australian universities. Others will be put off if they can't get their degree packaged with permanent residency. The result: North America and Britain will capitalise on the downturn of students to Australia.

The federal government has tightened student visas to clamp down on them being used as a ticket to permanent residency.

Third Degree believes it is wrong to put all the blame for falls in overseas student numbers on visa changes. Students from countries such as Singapore began turning away from Australia well before the visa changes.

Universities are good at blaming others for decreases in international students. When stories started appearing last year about dodgy private training colleges, universities blamed them for tarnishing the reputation of Australian institutions and possibly scaring off potential international students.

Universities need to look at themselves and the quality of courses they are offering. Perhaps the calibre of degrees is also deterring students.

University managers rarely talk about the quality of their courses, except to make empty statements about how international students obtain a ''world-class education'' at Australian universities. They dodge questions about the low English standards of many international students.

Those who teach overseas students know the main obstacle to them receiving a quality education is their poor command of English. This point was reflected in a 2009 study by doctor of education student Kee-Kuok Wong from the University of South Australia. His surveys of Asian students found they faced difficulties understanding lectures and communicating with their lecturers.

So it is not surprising that many international students see Australian institutions as ''second-rate''.

A 2009 report by IDP Education, Australia's largest international recruitment agency, revealed that 6000 students from eight countries rated Australia well behind the US and UK for quality of education.

Of the 1130 Indian students surveyed, only 8per cent rated Australian institutions as the most prestigious, compared with 58 per cent for the US.

Overseas experts are also passing judgment on Australia's education reputation.

Last week, Philip G. Altbach, the director of the Centre for International Higher Education at Boston College, wrote a column, Australia's Decline, for the US online publication, Inside Higher Ed. He said other countries can learn from Australia's mistakes.

''Australia's enviable international academic image, its 'brand', has already been significantly damaged. All of this is an inevitable result of what happens when commercialism shapes international education. Australia's example has important lessons for others.''

He singled out RMIT: ''The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, one of the country's most active internationally universities, has actually been accused of encouraging students to cheat on examinations. Stories began to appear in the press about international students being awarded degrees despite showing up to exams drunk, international students allowed to stay in exam rooms for as long as they wish, and so on.''

Perhaps the visa changes are good: they may force universities to improve the courses they offer students instead of relying on migration-driven demand for Australian higher education.

Quality degrees do attract good students. The evidence is here in our backyard: each year, local students make a beeline for courses with good reputations. And funnily enough, these courses have the highest entry scores.

Universities may also be forced to take more notice of international students who want a quality education. There is evidence that many do; not all international students want an easy path to a degree.

The reason many Singaporean students stopped coming to Australia was they did not like the fact that international students could gain entry to courses with relatively low English scores. They wanted their degrees to mean something.

A new report on Australian off-shore campuses by the London-based Observatory on Borderless Higher Education has an interesting appendix. It lists the student barriers to Australian universities setting up campuses in foreign countries. Of the eight barriers listed, six relate to quality, including students not meeting English standards.

Got a tip or want to contact Third Degree: thirddegreetips@gmail.com

Posted
by EdJuly 9, 2010 4:34 PM

LATEST COMMENTS

It shows there needs to be an IMPARTIAL inquiry into the way in which we sell our degrees internationally. No university should be represented on such an inquiry and it needs to be headed by a retired judge. Sounds like a cliche, I know, but who else would you trust to determine the best way to improve our tertiary education system? A former education minister like Lynne Kosky? Not on your life!

Posted by: Jim on July 13, 2010 12:16 PM

Three cheers for Prof. Altbach. He has succinctly outlined why Australia's reputation in education has faltered. Thank you Third Degree for alerting us to his work.

Posted by: ally on July 13, 2010 4:15 PM

Like a previous writer to this blog, I now wonder how much value my Masters at RMIT actually has. I doubt anyone from RMIT will reassure me, though.

Posted by: alex johnson on July 14, 2010 3:39 PM

One of the things that amazes me about international programs is that even when universities do act to improve them (or even shut them down), that many senior academics still whinge about the changes. Some senior academics are so evidently caught up in the spirit of being "entrepreneurial" that they simply can't see how much substandard programs, standards and practices are hurting their own universities, let alone the broader industry in general. Seeing how poor some of these offerings are (and how poor, e.g. the English standards of the students are) really does shock you when you are first exposed to them. But then Australian universities are not the only institutions that play this game - there seems to be an international race to the bottom with internationalisation unfortunately.

Posted by: Bear on July 14, 2010 8:50 PM

It's hard to believe that Prof Altbach would get his facts wrong and it's equally hard to believe his facts are right. I mean, what self-respecting university would allow "international students being awarded degrees despite showing up to exams drunk, international students allowed to stay in exam rooms for as long as they wish, and so on."

If he is right, some sort of independent inquiry is called for, but not just into the running of RMIT.

With an election coming up, Labor won't dare have an inquiry and the Liberals couldn't care less.

Posted by: Peter on July 14, 2010 10:06 PM

But the pity of it all is that 'Who among those in power give a dam?' There is no responsibility or oversight for educational quality - the politicians of both major parties seem to think it is just like any other economic entity and will find its own level in the marketplace. Sorry, but if you look to rapidly progressing countries to our north, you will see that education is an essential part their formula of success. Meanwhile, our elected MPs look the other way and hope no-one here notices...

Posted by: BRY on July 15, 2010 12:29 AM

Re: Bear. It is the other way round, they become 'senior academics' by being 'entrepreneurial' rather than being 'academic'. You are appointed and promoted by how much money you bring in, not on educational merit. Quality? That is determined by student feedback forms saying how easy they found the course. You don't get any support from head of department or faculty admin if you help students think for themselves. That is what our universities have become.

Posted by: BRY on July 15, 2010 3:43 PM

@Peter - Prof. Altbach seems to be relying on an article "Degrees at RMIT 'dumbed down' for foreign students" from the June 10 edition of the Herald-Sun which was based on a report by the State Ombudsman. He seems to have muddled his facts a bit, but that does not make the claims against RMIT any less acceptable.